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Extreme Sports Park to Appear in Expanded Moscow

Moscow authorities plan to build an extreme sports themed park in expanded Moscow in a bid to develop theme parks in the region, a news report said Thursday.

Vladimir Zhidkin, head of the municipal department, said that authorities estimate the park would cover an area of between 100 and 200 hectares and would welcome over 100,000 visitors per week.

Guests would have a chance to ride snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATVs, and also to go biking and try other extreme forms of transport, Izvestia reported.

Though the location has not yet been approved, Zhidkin said the park could be set up next to the towns of Rogovskoye, Klinovskoye and Kievskoye, in the Troitsk district.

He also said it is necessary to develop the industry of theme parks as "more and more people are interested in extreme sports."

"It is vital to create the most comfortable infrastructure inside the park — equip it with comfortable places where you can get changed, warm up, drink tea and take a break from the extreme," Zhidkin said.

Natalya Varskaya, a social psychologist, said that such active recreation would help Muscovites combat daily stress from work and public transportation.

"The city has a lot of people who are addicted to adrenaline," she told Izvestia. "It is much better for them to engage in extreme sports than compensate for the lack of adrenaline by engaging in antisocial behavior."

Moscow authorities also plan to build ski villages and family hotels to promote sports facilities in the Moscow region.

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